Relay type floor selector



April 19, 1960 DlNNlNG 2,933,155

RELAY TYPE FLOOR SELECTOR Filed Jan. 12, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I7 I53 6 l3 I 25 26 27 IIO 2o 32 INVENTOR. JOHN R. DINNING A'TTOR EYS April 19, 1960 J. R. DINNING 2,933,155

RELAY TYPE FLOOR SELECTOR R g. I INVENTCR.

JOHN R. DINNING ATTORNEYS April 19, 1960 Filed Jan. 12, 1959 DOWN NOTCHING J. R. DINNING RELAY TYPE FLOOR SELECTOR DA 60 TF 1| ll I TOPRESET 63-Z c I!)) ll I! II II I l] e2 70 ll 3F i LR 2F 1+! l liF e7 BOTTOM RESET I BE LD IF H i A f UA 64 Y IF (6| UP NOTCHING 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INV EN 1 OR.

JOHN R. DINNING MQM ATTORNEYS United States Paten RELAY TYPE FLOOR SELECTOR John R. Dinning, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Toledo (S)cha le Corporation, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of This invention relates to automatic elevator controls and in particular to improved circuits for operating a series of relays such that the relays operate sequentially in response to a common signal as the elevator car moves along its path of travel.

A signal control elevator, i.e., an elevator that starts and stops in accordance with signals registered by push buttons, requires that certain control circuits be switched or commutated according to the position of the car along its path of travel. Such circuits include, for example, position indicating lights, circuits that are responsive to calls registered from call registering devices located in the car and at the respective landings served by the car. In the past it has been customary to provide mechanism, commonly called a floor selector machine, that moves a plurality of brushes over an array of stationary contacts in accordance with the movement of the car along its path of travel. Such a floor selector mechanism is expensive to build and for an elevator operating past a limited number of floors it is desirable to provide other mechanism to accomplish these same functions.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an improved relay circuit comprising a plurality of relays one for each floor served by the elevator arranged so that as the car moves along its path of travel the relays are sequentially actuated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a resetting circuit for the floor relays that serves to deenergize or release all of the relays except the one corresponding to the floor at which the elevator is then located.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a plurality of relay assemblies each of which is conditioned for operation by energization through a switch that is actuated as the car passes a certain position in relation to each floor and that moves to its operated or contact closing condition as soon as the energization circuit is broken.

These and more specific objects and advantages are apparent from the following description of a preferred form of the invention.

According to the invention a plurality of relay assemblies, one for each floor, and circuits are provided to condition or energize the relay corresponding to the floor being approached and simultaneously deenergize the relay corresponding to the floor just passed or left. The circuits are bi-directional so that regardless of the direction of travel of the elevator car the next relay assembly to be energized is that for the floor being approached whether it be approached from the up or down direction.

A preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. I is a schematic illustration of an elevator car adapted to serve a plurality of landings.

Fig. II is a schematic wiring diagram illustrating a por-' tion of the stopping circuits for the elevator that are 6 ice provided so that it may respond to registered calls for service.

Fig. III is a schematic wiring diagram illustrating the electrical circuits for operating the plurality of floor selector relays.

These specific figures and the accompanying description are intended merely to illustrate the invention and not to impose limitations on its scope.

As illustrated in Fig. I an elevator car 10 that is arranged to serve a plurality of floors, represented by horizontal lines 11, is suspended by a cable 12 that is trained over a sheave 13 and connected to a counterweight 14. An elevator drive motor 15 is connected through its armature shaft 16 to drive the sheave "13. The armature shaft 16 is extended beyond the sheave 13 into a bearing and brake assembly 17 that serves both as an outboard bearing for the armature shaft 16, to support the side thrust produced by the weight of the car 10 and counterweight 14, and as a spring set brake. The brake 17 is released electromechanically whenever the motor 15 is energized to move the car to another floor. A plurality of up hall call push buttons 20 are arranged one at each of the floors having another floor above it for registering up hall calls. A similar series of down hall call buttons 21 are located one at each floor having a floor beneath it for registering down hall calls. Likewise a series of push buttons 22, one for each floor, are provided in the elevator car 10 for registering car or destination calls, i.e. calls for travel to the floors to which the passengers in the car desire to be taken. The hall call and car call circuits controlled by the push buttons 20, 21 and 22 are conventional and well known in the elevator art. The latching relays customarily employed with such circuits are therefore not shown in the drawings.

The progress of the car along the hatchway is indicated by the cooperation between the extreme ones of a plurality of inductor relays 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 arranged on a frame on the side of the car 10 and magnetic vanes 31, 32, 33, and 34 there being at least one vane for each floor. Occasionally the positioning circuits cannot be satisfactorily timed or synchronized with a single vane. In such cases duplicate vanes that are vertically spaced from each other and laterally offset to cooperate with some but not all of the inductor relays may be employed.

' Figs. II and III of the accompanying drawings show a portion of the control circuits for indicating the presence of calls for service and the position of such calls with respect to the car as well as a po'rtion of the circuits for SR Line 116 Stopping relay. ST Line 107 Stop initiating relay. 87 Line 101 Call above relay.

I 88 Line 114 Call below relay.

1F Line 215 First floor selector relay. 2F Line 210 Second floor selector relay. 3F Line 207 Third floor selector relay. 'I'F Line 202 Top floor selector relay.

CL Door closing relay.

CT Car call top floor.

C1 Car call first floor.

C2 Car call second floor.

C3 Q. Car call third floor.

DA Down direction relay.

DL Down direction locking relay. DT Door timer.

G Door close limit relay.

IN Inspection control relay.

LD Leveling, down direction.

LR -l Leveling, door operating zone. LU Leveling, up direction.

P Potential relay (control potential). S2D Down hall call second floor. S3D Down hall call third floor. STD Down hall call top floor.

SlU Up hall call first floor.

S2U Up hall call second floor. S3U Up hall call third floor.

UA Up direction.

UL Up direction locking relay.

Referring to Fig. II, direct current power is supplied to the control circuits by way of a supply lead CS, supplied with positivedirect current potential, and a return lead 00. Control power from the supply lead CS flows through inspection relay contacts IN in line 102 as long as the inspection relay is deenergized indicating that the car is ready for service and not subject to independent operation. Current flowing through the inspection relay contacts IN flows through a lead 45 and through any car call relay contacts C1, C2, C3 or C5 that maybe closed in response to operation of the car call buttons 22 to energize junction points 46, 47, 48 and 49. A call above relay 87 and a call below relay 88 are shown in lines 101 and 114 respectively and are arranged to be energized whenever there is a call above or below the position of the car and the car is not conditioned for travel in the opposite direction. The circuits to energize the call above and call below relays 87 and 88 comprise two sets of normally closed contacts of each of a series of floor selector relays 1P, 2P, 3F, and TF corresponding to the first, second, third and top floors of the building being served. The circuits to operate the floor selectin relays are shown in Fig. III.

- The normally closed sets of floor selector relay con-' tacts, as shown in Fig. II, are connected in series from the line 101 to line 114. Thus, at lines 101, 103 two sets of normally closed contacts of the top floor selector relay TF are shown one on each side of the junction point 46. Likewise normally closed contacts 3F, at lines 104 and 106, of the third floor relay are shown on each side of the junction point 47. Similarly normally closed contacts 2F at lines 108, 110, are arranged on each side of the junction 48 and contacts 1F at lines 112, 114 are connected on opposite sides of the junction point 49. As long as all of the floor selector relays are in' their nonoperated condition this circuit is complete so that all of the junction points 46 to 49 inclusive are connected together and are connected through normally closed con tacts DL of a down direction holding o'r locking relay DL and normally closed contacts of the call below relay 88- of the coil of the call above relay 87. Likewise the first floor junction point 49 is connected through the normally clo'sed first floor selector contact 1F at line 113 and normally closed contacts UL of an up direction holding relay UL and normally closed contacts of a call above relay 87 to the operating coil of a call below relay- 88 in line 114. i

When the car is approaching a floor the floor selector relay for that floor is operated'to its energized position so as to open its normally closed contacts in the, series.

46, 47, 48 or 49 corresponding to that particular floor. For example, as a car approaches the second floor the normally closed contacts 2F in lines 108 and 110 open and normally open contacts 2F in line 109 close to connect the junction point 48 to a stop signal lead'50. The stop signal lead 50 is connected through up directionrelay contacts UA or down direction relay contacts DA in lines 105 or 109 and up stop inductor relay in line 105 .or down sto'p inductor relay in line 109 to a stop initiating STD. The down hall call stopping circuits are energized from the inspection relay contacts IN in line 102 through lead 51, contacts 87 or 88 of the call above or callbelow relays, and lead 52 that is connected through normally closed up directional relay contacts UA to a lead 53 to energize the down hall call relay contacts including the up hall call relay contacts SlU for the bottom terminal floor. The lead 52 is also connected through normally closed down directional relay contacts DA to a lead 54 that energizes the up hall call stopping relay contacts including the top floor down hall call relay contacts. To prevent a possibility of improper circuit functioning or leakage of current from one junction point to another by way of the" hall call circuits rectifiers 55 are insertedin series between the hall call relay contacts and the junction points 46, 47, 48 and 49.

In the event that a car is standing idle at a floor at which an intending passenger has pushed a button it is desirable that the direction determining circuits be non responsive to other hall calls until the first intending passenger has a chance to get into the car and register his destination call and thus establish a directional preference. This is accomplished in this circuit by the provi sion of series connected normally-closed door timer contacts DT in line 105 and'normally closed door limit relay contacts 42' in line 106 arranged in parallel with the normally open contacts 87 and 88 of the call abdve and call below relays. Therefore if no directional preference is set up in the relays 87 or 88 at the time the doors are opening to receive a prospective passenger the circuit to the lead 52 is broken so that the remaining hall call relays have no eifect upon the direction determining relays, i.e. the call above or call below relays, until the doors have reclosed and. the door timer has timed out.- In this interval, since current may flow through the lead 45 and any registered car call, the intending passenger entering the car and registering a car call energizes the call above or call below relays 87 or 88 prior to any possibility of selection by other hall calls. Conversely if a call above or call below had been registered and the intending passenger was intermediate the car and the prior call and desires to go in the direction that the car is moving, for example an intending passenger at the third floor desiring -to travel down when the car is located at the top floor or starting down in response to a first floor call, the car will stop at the third floor for such passenger. Should such passenger change his mind and register a top floor car call the car will ignore such call until it has answered the lower terminal call and will then immediately return to satisfy the top car call.

Normally closed UA and DA contacts in lines 109 and 106 respectively are included to prevent stopping of the car in response to hall calls requiring travel in a direc-. tion opposite to the then selected direction of travel. It issometimes desirable to provide an indication of the presence of' calls requiring. travel to the. direction opposite to that for which the car has been conditioned. The

presence of such calls may beindicated by signal lamps circuit and thus isolate that one of the junction points connected between the'end terminals of the series of normally closed floor selector relay contacts TF to 1F and the return lead 00. In such an arrangement hall calls ahead of the car would energize such signal means by way of the normally closed UA or DA contacts while hall calls behind the' car or for the opposite direction would be indicated by signal currents flowing through resistors R and R6, illustrated at lines 107 and 108, that are in parallel with the contacts UA and DA and which permit the flow of a small amount of current even though such contacts are opened. The amount of current that can flow through the resistors is insufficient to operate the stopping relay ST at line 107 and thus the car does not respond to ball calls requiring travel in the opposite direction.

An additional circuit is provided to energize the lead 50 whenever the car reaches or passes the last call in a given direction of travel. This additional circuit, shown in lines 115 and 116, comprises normally closed contacts of the call above signal relay 87 in line 115 or the call below relay contact 88 in line 116 connected respectively in series with direction maintaining relay contacts UL in line 115 or DL in line 116. Thus whenever the call above or call below relay drops out to indicate no call beyond in the then selected direction of operation the circuit is completed to the stopping lead 50 and the car stops at the next floor whether there is a call registered at that floor or not.

Operation of the stop initiating relay ST in line 107 in response to the approach to a floor at which a call is registered causes this relay to close its contacts ST in line 115 to complete a circuit from the stopping signal lead 50 to a stopping relay SR shown in line 116. The stopping relay SR immediately closes its contacts at line 119 to prepare a circuit through up or down directional relay contacts UA or DA to seal in the stopping relay SR until the car is actually stopped at the floor. The stopping relay SR may also be energized when the car is standing idle at a floor with its doors closed by registering a hall call for that floor. The energizing circuit is by way of contacts IN in line 102, lead 51, contacts DT, G, and UA or DA, leads 53 or 54, the now closed hall call relay contacts and floor selector contacts, lead 50 and contacts LR and CL in line 116. This operation of the stopping relay is to recycle the door timer to prevent an immediate reclosure of the doors as they open for the call.

The circuits for operating the floor selector relays 1F, 2F, 3F and TF in accordance with the progress of the car up and down the hatchway are indicated schematically in Fig. III. These circuits are energized from the control supply lead CS through down notching or up notching inductor relays shown in lines 202 and 215 respectively which are connected through directional relay contacts DA or UA to energize down and up advance signal leads 60 and 61 respectively. The inductor notching relays are operated momentarily as the car travels from one floor to the next. These relays, which may be theinductor relays 25 and 30 of Fig. I, are arranged so that they operate and are released before the car reaches a position to operate the up or down stop inductor relays shown in lines 105 and 109. As will be shown later, this timing sequence is important.

Each of the floor selector relays 1F, 2F, 3F and TF is of a ratchet type which is an example of a relay which is conditioned or cocked by being energized and which moves to its actual operated or energized position when the electrical power to the energizing means is discontinued. A common type of relay for operating in this manner is the ordinary ratchet relay in which an electrically actuated solenoid cocks a spring which, when the solenoid is released, operates through a pawl and latch wheel to move the wheel to its next position thereby either opening or closing the contacts depending upon the position of the wheel. Thus the condition of the relay is reversed following each energization of the solenoid employed to cock the spring. One important aspect of this type of relay is that the contacts are moved to their new position after the energizing power is released.

In the circuits shown a reset lead 62 is arranged to be energized through a rectifier 63 from the down notching signal lead 60 or through a rectifier 64 from the up notching signal lead 61. The reset lead 62 is connected to normally open contacts 2F and SF of the second and third floor selector relays shown in lines 210 and 207 so as to cock the operating mechanism of each of these relays whenever the reset lead 62 is energized and the relay is then in its operated condition, that is with its contacts closed. Similarly the operating means of the first and top floor relays are connected directly to the leads 61 and 60 by way of their normally open contacts 1F and TF so that these relays are cocked each time the corresponding lead is energized providing the relay is in its operated condition.

Each of the operating coils of these floor relays is also connected through rectifiers such as the rectifier 65 for the second floor relay and normally open contacts of the adjacent floor selector relays to the leads 60 or 61. Thus the operating coil of the fioor selector relay 2F is connected through the rectifier 65 and contacts 1F, at line 211, to the lead 61 and through contacts 3F, in line 209, to the lead 60.

In addition, a top and bottom reset circuit is provided to insure that the top floor selector relay TF, at line 202, shall be operated to its contact closing position when the car approaches the top floor and a similar circuit is provided to insure that the first floor or bottom floor relay 1F is operated to its contact closing position when the car approaches the bottom terminal. These circuits include normally closed landing relay contacts LR shown in line 210 which contacts are closed as long as the car is not within the door opening zone of the floor. From the normally closed LR contacts, the circuit for the top floor relay selector TF may be traced through a top reset switch which is cam actuated by the car when it is adjacent the upper terminal and through normally open leveling contacts LU, shown at line 203, and through normally closed top floor selector contacts TF in line 203 to condition or cock the operating mechanism of the top floor relay TF in the event that relay is in its nonoperated position when this circuit is completed. In normal op eration this relay will have been moved to its operated position in response to the approach of the car, through a circuit including the up notching relay and the third floor selector relay contacts 3F at line 205 so that the contacts TF are open to prevent a further operation of the relay.

The closure of the top floor reset circuit through the top floor reset switch and the LU contacts also supplies the pulse of current through rectifier 66 to the reset lead 62 so as to cook any operating means for any relays that are in their operated position. Thus when this circuit is opened by opening of the LR contacts as the car levels at the floor the top floor relay advances to its operated position and any other operated floor relays to their nonoperated positions.

A similar circuit is provided in line 214 including a bottom reset cam operated switch and leveling contacts LD to complete a circuit through first floor selector relay and normally closed contacts 1F in line 214 to the operating means of the first floor selector relay in the event such floor relay has not been advanced to its operated position by the normal pulse of current from lead 60 through contacts 2F at line 212. This bottom reset circuit also supplies resetting current to any of the other relays through rectifier 67 connected to the line 62.

Rectifiers 68 and 69 connected between the leads 60 and 61 respectively to the return lead 00 are provided to obsorb the inductive voltage surge which would otherwise cause arcing at the contacts of the up and down notching inductor relays.

The operation of the circuit as the car travels from floor to'floor may be traced by assuming first that the car is stationed at the bottom terminal floor and that as it approached such floor the floor selector relay 1F moved to its energized or contact closing position by a pulse of current through lead 60 and contacts 2F in line 212, or having failed to operate by that circuit, by a pulse of current through the bottom reset circuit. In this: condition contacts 1F in line 2215 are closed, contacts IF in line 214 are open, contacts 1F in line 211 are closed, and the remainder of the floor selector contacts are open. As the car moves toward the second floor the up notching inductor in line 2.15 operates and as it closes itscontacts current flows through lead 61, now closed contacts 1F in line 211 and rectifier 65 to cock or condition the operating means of the second floor selector relay 2F. Current also flows at this time through lead 61 and now closed contacts 1F in line 215 to cock'orcondition the operating means of the first floor selectorrelay in line 215.- When the up notching inductor opens its contacts to. break the circuit the first floor selector-relay 1F moves to its nonenergized or circuit opening conditionwhile the second floor selector relay moves to its energized or con tact closing position.

. As the second floor relay moves to its operated condi' tion it opens its contacts in lines 108 and 110 (Fig. II) and closes its contacts in line 109 to prepare circuits from the junction point 48 to the stopping relay ST in the event a call is registered at the second floor requiring.

a stop at that floor. It a stop is not signaled the car proceeds directly past the second floor and as it moves beyond the fioor the up notching inductor is operated by a second vane between the second and third floors. This time the current flows from the up notching lead. 61,. through now closed contacts 2F in line 208 and rectifier 70- to the operating coil of the third floor selector relay SF in line 207. Current at this time also flows through the rectifier 64, reset lead 62, and now closed contacts 2F in line 210 to cock or condition the operating means of the second floor selector relay 2F. When the up notching inductor opens its contacts following this opera tion the third floor selector relay moves to its contact closing position or energized position and the second floor selector relay moves to its nonoperated position.

Similar stepping from one floor selector relay to the next occurs as the car moves down by pulses of'currents supplied through the down notching inductorrelay in line 202, lead 60 and the then closed floor selector relay contacts TF, SP or 2F in lines 206,. 209 and 212 respectively so as to condition'the floor selector relay of the floor being approached so that that relay is moved to its energized position as the notching signal lead 60- is deenergized at each step.

In order to avoid any possibility of the car responding to signals registered at the. floor from which it is just departing it is necessary that the operation of the up or down notching inductor relays in lines 202 and- 215 be completed prior to the operation of the up or down stop inductor relays shown' in lines 105 and 109. If, through misadjustment, the notching relay should not openprior to the closure of the down. stop or up stop inductor relays there is a possibility of the stopping relay ST receiving a pulse of current from the junction point for the floor just behind the car if a call is registered for that floor. This is possible because the floor selector relay contacts do not operate to break the circuit for the last floor and establish the circuits for the next floor until the notching leads 60 or 61 are deener-gized.

Except for this limitation in: sequencing the notching inductors may be located any distance ahead of the up and down stop inductor relays within the limits 'of the interfloor spacing. In other words except with special circuits the notching inductors may not be operated prior to leaving the preceding floor. As illustrated the slow down distance for the car, determined-by the positioning ot the upand down stoprinductor' relays, must; be: less relays operate.

than the distance from the floor atwhich the notching While a ratchet type relay has been indicated as being preferable for the iloor selector relays 1F through TF, any type of alternately open and close relay which closes its contacts following alternate pulses of energizing power may be employed. Such arrangements include a number of relay combinations as Well as stepping or ratchet re= lays. They may be all characterized-as having a conditioning means operated by' electrical power and an operating means which may be mechanical or electrical but which is not effective until'the primary energi zation is removed. 7

Various modifications in the circuits and details may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having described the invention, I claim: 1'. A floor selector for an elevator controls'ystem, said selector comprising a plurality of solenoid-conditioned spring-actuated relays each of which on successive energizations assumes a firstand ase'cond position; notching contacts that are operated to circuit closing condition as the elevator car passes selected points in its travel, first relay contactson each relay that are closed in' the first position of the relay and that are connected in circuit between said notching contacts and said solenoids, a first energizing circuit for said solenoids that is coni pleted through said notching contacts and said first relay contacts, additional contacts on each relay that are closed in said first position, tip-directional and down-' directional contacts that are closed. according to the direction of travel of the elevator car, and, energizing circuits for said solenoids each of which circuits include said" notching contacts, saiddirectional contacts and said additional contacts of the next adjacent relays.

2. A floor selector for a control system of an elevator car, said selector comprising a plurality of relay assentblies each of which alternately assumes a first and a second position in response. to successive 1 energiza'tions of 7 its operating means, an energizing circuit including notching contacts that are closed during a portion of the travel of the car from on'e'lflo'o'r to the next, contacts on each relay' that are closed in the first position arranged to" connect the energizing circuit to the operating means of any relay then its first condition, and other contact means on each relay arranged to connect said energizing circuit to the operating means of an adjacent relay assembly. I

v 3. A floor selector for a control system for an elevator car, said selector comprising a plurality of relay assem blies each of which alternately assumes a first and a second position in response to the cessation of a condition ing energization of its operating means, an energizing circuit including notching contacts that are" closeddu'r ing a portion of the travel of the car from one floor I to the next, contacts on each relay assembly arranged when in its first position to connect the operating means of such relay to said en'erg'izing'circuit, and other con? tac't's on each relay arranged when in its. first position to connect the operating means of an adjacent relay to said energizing circuit.

4. A floor selector for a control system for an elevator car, said selector comprising a 'ilur'aliti'y of relay assemblies one for each floor served by the elevator car,. each of said assemblies assuming a first and a secondposition in response to successive. energizations, an enerto said energizing circuit, other contacts on eachrelay' that arev arrangedwhen the relay is in its first position tifier means are included in circuit with one set of contacts adjacent the conditioning means of each relay to block current flow through said contacts in series.

6. A floor selector for a control system for an elevator car, said selector comprising a plurality of relay assemblies one for each floor served by the elevator car, each of which alternately moves to a first and a second position upon successive cessations of energization of its operating means, notching contacts that are closed during a portion of the travel of the car from floor to floor, directional contacts selectively closed for up and down car travel, an up energizing lead that is energized through notching contacts and up directional contacts, a down energizing lead that is energized through notching contacts and doWn directional contacts, a reset lead that is connected through unilateral conductors to said up and down energizing leads, contact means on each relay closed in the first position connecting the operating means of that relay to the reset lead, and other contacts on each relay respectively connecting the next adjacent relay operating means to the up and down energizing leads.

No references cited. 

